Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026
11:00
Reprogramming Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts with Transcription Factors to Induce a Hemogenic Program
Published on: December 16, 2016
Induction of a hemogenic program in mouse fibroblasts
Carlos-Filipe Pereira1, Betty Chang, Jiajing Qiu
1Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1496, New York, NY 10029, USA. filipe.pereira@mssm.edu
Cell Stem Cell
|June 18, 2013
Summary
Scientists identified four key transcription factors that can reprogram mouse fibroblasts into hematopoietic stem cells in vitro. This breakthrough offers a new platform for developing patient-specific blood products.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Stem Cell Biology
- Hematopoiesis
Background:
- Definitive hematopoiesis, the process of blood cell formation, originates during embryogenesis through an endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition.
- Understanding and replicating this transition is crucial for regenerative medicine and developing novel therapeutic strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors capable of inducing the endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition in somatic cells.
- To establish a simplified method for generating hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in vitro.
Main Methods:
- Screening a panel of transcription factors for hemogenic activity in mouse fibroblasts.
- Utilizing a combination of Gata2, Gfi1b, cFos, and Etv6 to induce cell reprogramming.
- Analyzing gene expression profiles and cell-surface phenotypes of induced cells.
- Assessing the hematopoietic potential of reprogrammed cells through in vitro colony formation assays.
Main Results:
- A combination of four transcription factors (Gata2, Gfi1b, cFos, Etv6) efficiently induced endothelial-like precursor cells from mouse fibroblasts.
- These precursor cells subsequently generated hematopoietic cells expressing key markers (CD34 reporter, Sca1, Prominin1) and hematopoietic stem cell gene-expression profiles.
- The reprogrammed cells demonstrated the capacity to form hematopoietic colonies in vitro after transgene silencing and reaggregation culture.
Conclusions:
- A simple combination of transcription factors is sufficient to recapitulate the complex, multistep process of definitive hemogenesis in vitro.
- These findings provide critical insights into the developmental mechanisms of hematopoiesis.
- This study presents a promising platform for generating patient-specific stem and progenitor cells and differentiated blood products for therapeutic applications.
